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Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Courts - More on the upshot of: Kentucky Supreme Court carries out records purge

The outrage over the mass destruction of misdemeanor records in Kentucky's Jefferson County last year seemed to have abated in late January, judging from this Jan. 23rd ILB entry. But not so. A lengthy story today in the Louisville Courier Journal by Andrew Wolfson and Jason Riley reviews a report of the special "Records Retention Review Commiteee" that "rips" the "bureaucrats" at the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts. The AOC is an arm of the Supreme Court.

Some quotes from the story, which is headlined "Office ripped on file purge: 'Indifference,' 'ineptness' found":

Kentucky officials destroyed tens of thousands of old Jefferson County court records last fall because of their "indifference, inexperience, intransigence and ineptness," according to a scathing report issued yesterday.

Bureaucrats at the Administrative Office of the Courts followed policies for destroying records without question, which harmed law enforcement and the public, said a five-member panel that investigated the records purge.

Prosecutors and probation officers have complained that the loss of the records -- misdemeanor charges at least five years old -- makes it more difficult to prove in court an offender's past misconduct.

Job applicants also have said they are unable to prove that old charges were dropped. Identifying agency officials by name, the 18-page report said they failed to understand the importance of the misdemeanor records to prosecutors, probation officers and the courts or to listen to their concerns.

First Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Harry Rothgerber Jr. said the report confirmed his office's view that "public safety has been threatened by this fiasco" and that those involved should be punished.

"Heads should roll at AOC," he said.

More from the story:
In an interview, Steve Romines, a criminal-defense lawyer who served on the panel, blamed a "bureaucratic" culture at the AOC that he said is unwilling to compromise or listen to others.

"Part of the reason it happened is that for so long the AOC has had no oversight," said Romines. "And when someone questioned them in this situation, they assumed, like always, their position was the correct one." * * *

The five-member panel -- which also included judges and the Jefferson circuit clerk -- was appointed by Chief Justice Joseph Lambert, with Court of Appeals Judge Tom Wine serving as chairman. All panel members are from Louisville.

The panel recommended 13 policy changes, including that misdemeanor records be maintained for at least 25 years and that the destruction of such records be temporarily halted statewide.

In a brief statement, Lambert said the panel's recommendations will be "taken under advisement."

In a separate statement, [Jason Nemes, the AOC's acting director], who is also Lambert's chief of staff, praised the AOC's record policies, although he said "for the time being," all court records will be maintained. * * *

The panel reserved its harshest criticism for John Dobson, the AOC's manager of court services, who executed the purge, for demonstrating "time and again absolutely no concern" for the issues raised by Losavio and others, including the branch manager of the Louisville office of Probation and Parole.

The report said Nemes -- who could have stopped Dobson from destroying electronic records after microfiche and microfilm was destroyed -- "failed to recognize that Dobson only responded to direct and unequivocal directives."

Here is a link to the investigatory commission's 20-page report and recommendations.

Here is a link to earlier ILB entries on the Kentucky court recrods purge.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 28, 2007 08:24 AM
Posted to Courts in general